


A Heart that Fits

by CaptainGlitch



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: (but only if ya squint), Character Study, F/F, Friendship, I avoided using the name Kokoro as much as I could and this is the result, I've been writing this for like 2 months...I don't now if that's too much or not enough, Introspection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14040999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainGlitch/pseuds/CaptainGlitch
Summary: Heartful Punch knows when things are not her style. When it came to her name she was absolutely sure it was one of those things that weren’t for her... at all...





	A Heart that Fits

**Author's Note:**

> Like everyone else, I like Punchy very much, and I kinda get that whole “I don’t wanna use my name bc it sounds cute” thing... so I wrote this bc I wanted to put my take on that ordeal into words... Words are hard! Also (the important part) I wanted to look for a reason why Punchy didn’t really flip when Undine said her name in front of her friends.  
> Enjoy!

She never really liked her name.

She doesn’t outright dislikes it much either, mind you.

It’s not like it is a bad name. Most of the times, it is just that it doesn’t feel like it would suit her.

People seem to get weird mental images when they hear her name, mostly things along the lines of a cute small girly-girl using tons of ribbons and frills.

And that isn’t her.

She likes pink, she likes hearts... but what she definitely doesn't like is the look some people give her when they _see her._  A look that only sees her as tall, a bit lanky and far too tomboyish to be associated with such a cute name _–her own name—_.

So when she gets the dream she does something about it and chooses a title —something that is more _her_ — and stops allowing anyone else to call her by her actual name.

Heartful Punch is what she picks... HP for short, there’s no need to use names that don’t fit. It's still somewhat related to her name (and her powers), but now it sounds more heroic... less _cute_...

Thankfully nobody insists. She just has to look at them in the eye and ask them to stop.

They usually look terrified afterwards, so she has to assume that they are all really sorry about the slip.

She is left to wonder why everyone looks scared shitless of using her actual name now, but she decides not to question a good thing. She barely remembers once punching something after someone called her by the _“forbidden name”_ , but she wasn’t really angry, she was just surprised and the person apologized afterwards... even if HP feels like she needed to apologize too.

She would be more worried about that but at least they aren’t using her real name, and everyone is kind and nobody seems to hate her so that _is_ good.

 

She doesn’t know what gets into her. Maybe it’s the vulnerability in Undine’s voice, maybe it’s the fact that Undine seems to trust her like a friend, or at least enough to confess some private stuff to her over lunch, maybe it's just the fact that Undine already told HP her actual name, but –regardless of the reason— it no longer feels right to _not_ offer something in return for all that honesty. The moment would feel fake otherwise.

So she lets her use her _name_.

At first that doesn’t seem like it might be a good idea. Undine thinks it’s a cute name. That’s a bad sign, but it’s too late to take her words back. HP might as well endure it for now.

 

Then, a day later, Undine does say her name, for the first time, and it’s unexpected in a way that makes HP forget about everything else.

She’s just passing by, pretending to be doing something completely unrelated to Undine, and hearing her name takes her by surprise. And it makes her mind reset, it’s almost like Undine didn’t even call her by her name.

They keep talking and it doesn’t come up once again.

That’s fine, right?

She can’t really bring herself to call Undine by name, but there’s no rush.

Or at least she keeps telling herself that.

She is still mentally reminding herself that as she scans through the pages of the books in the library looking for something that tells her more about the name _Undine_.

Because, apparently, it _is_ an actual name.

She’s only absentmindedly pulling different kinds of books from the bookshelves when she sees one that seems to be actually helpful.

It’s an old, boring-looking book with sigils in the cover, one of them looks like Undine’s symbol, the one that marks her as a Magical Girl, so she dives into the text.

After taking a seat in one of the tables in the empty library, she gets into a more comfortable position; that happens to be her head facing sideways on the table with an arm acting as a pillow. Her other hand is turning the pages of the book.

When she gets bored she distractedly leafs through the book and skips over more than half of the pages. She’s about to give up and drop the book when that symbol, Undine’s mark, appears again between the pages.

She straightens her posture on the chair and starts reading with a bit more interest. The time goes by pretty quickly and by the time she leaves the library it’s already time to go to the Magical Girl Power Training Club.

She thinks she’s the first to arrive to the Weight Room but Gabby is already there.

             “Hey, Gabs!”

Gabby barely acknowledges HP’s presence with a nod and she’s back at doing curls with the dumbbells, the muscles in her arms straining but she’s not even sweating. _So cool_.

While gearing up to lift weights a simple thought strikes HP. If she was more like Gabby maybe names wouldn't be such a big issue for her. She doesn't allow her mind to linger _too much_ on the idea though.

 

The second time Undine calls HP by her name is a bit more... _memorable_ , more so by the fact that Undine says it in front of Vedika and Cassidy... and Vedika and Cassidy _notice_.

             “Yoooo, Curls!” She’s calling Undine by a nickname, so she’s kinda, sorta expecting Undine to answer in kind (spoiler alert: she doesn’t).

             “Ah! Good morning, Kokoro!”

             “Guh—”

She can hear Vedika and Cassidy whispering behind her back, but she doesn’t get what they’re saying. Her mind is reeling.

Undine says her name like it is... dunno, it still sounds cute, but it isn’t like that weird feeling of trying to wear a shoe that is one size too small...

And that... that is good, right?

HP doesn’t call Undine by name, at least not yet.

She reads a bit more about Undines. The  _creatures_ , not the girl... because reading about her would be creepy, right? Even if there are a lot of magazines with her and her old team, HP doesn’t feel curious enough to read them... not really?... She keeps telling herself she has no interest in those things, even if she's not sure about that, but it's no good to dwell on confusing stuff anyway.

 

The third time Undine calls HP by her name happens after they’ve been having a confession night of sorts. Undine has been telling HP about all the things she has bottled up, her fears her insecurities... that purple _stalkerish_ goopy girl that seems to be targeting her...

HP is not that great when it comes to dealing with emotions, or at least she thinks so. But in that moment her instincts kick in and she just hugs Undine and tells her it’s not her fault. Afterwards she listens to her some more and offers some insight. Then they spend the rest of the night fighting dumb-looking monsters.

It’s not after the night is nearly over when Undine says her name, the word just escapes the girl’s lips and it carries her worry and care. But it just gets lost along the feelings HP is putting out there in the open.

HP’s not much for heart-to-heart moments (heart-power-related puns aside), but Undine has been so honest with her, she just wants to share something too, so Undine doesn’t feel weird.

So their relationship feels more balanced...maybe (like, it feels wrong to not tell her a bit of what’s always in her mind when Undine has had no issues confessing everything to her).

And somehow admitting things she has never said out loud makes her feel at ease and... closer to Undine?... It’s a weird feeling, but it isn’t a bad one.

The things she has read about the origins of Undine’s name, the things she now knows about the actual girl... they all blend together and maybe she feels ready to say the name.

...Just not yet. She tells herself it’s just cause the time hasn’t come up.

Not that it is that big of a deal, but that night it just _feels_ like it is.

 

At lunch time, next day, she sees Undine wandering around the cafeteria. She has been avoiding eating here but today she agreed to come eat with HP and her friends. People seem to look at her from the corner of their eyes and physically dodge her, not intentionally, but it’s clear everyone feels a bit uncomfortable around her and that isn’t lost on her.

Standing in the middle of the cafeteria, she looks uneasy and disoriented and a bit nervous too. But even if she looks vulnerable she's still there, still holding on, just like the first night HP found her fighting by herself. So the name basically slips from HP’s mouth.

             “Yo, Undine! Over here!”

The girl turns in HP’s direction, and HP feels herself beaming at the way Undine’s whole countenance brightens.

Yes, good. That’s the way it’s supposed to go while calling someone by a name that fits. That instant recognition and features that brighten when you get called by a name that doesn’t make you feel like you have to sit in a desk without enough room for you (HP knows all about sitting in tiny uncomfortable desks that don’t allow you to bend your knees comfortably or stretch even a bit, she’s used to be pretty tall for her age after all).

HP completely ignores the possibility that Undine might have looked happy because it's the first time HP is calling her by name.

 

             “I think your name fits you, Undine,” she tells her during Magical Girl training one evening. A part of her wants to keep calling Undine by her designated nickname —Curls— but Undine is such a cool name an it fits so well she can't stop using it now.

Undine stops what she is doing, the water that she was harnessing in her hands dissolves in the air or slips through her fingers until she has nothing in her palms. The statement catches her by surprise but once she makes sense of HP’s words she looks interested in what the girl has to say.

             “Undine, the name of those _alchemy_ water creatures, right?” HP explains.

 _Elemental beings_ related to water, first named in the _alchemical_ writings of Paracelsus... a term derived from the Latin word _unda_ that means _wave._

HP remembers it all clearly but she doesn’t say it out loud because it might be weird or creepy, so she’s far better pretending she knows less about this oddly specific topic that caught her interest only after meeting Undine.

She doesn’t want to come on too strong, or appear too bold or impolite just because she got excited while reading about something.

Undine nods softly and a smile starts to form in her lips. HP feels something in her stomach, but it’s not fear or distress, so it’s fine.

They work a bit more in comfortable silence until Undine talks again.

             “I like your name... it _fits_ you.”

HP feels her body freeze. Suddenly, she gets that familiar feeling of being stuck with boxing gloves that are so small they hurt her fingers and make it awkward to close her fists.

             “How so?” She asks slowly, because Undine is a nice girl and HP knows she means absolutely no harm with her statement. So she wants to hear what the girl has to say.

             “Kokoro means Heart...”

HP tries to not look and Undine with an annoyed _“I know”_ look, but the girl keeps talking and it takes HP by surprise.

             “...but it also means Mind and Spirit.”

That leaves HP dumbfounded, since most people just go with the obvious (and very annoying) “Heart = Heart powers” connection and leave it at that. But Undine doesn't seem to be like that, she has more to say about the topic at hand.

             “ _Kokoro_ is the root of other Japanese words like Reassuring, Heartening, Understanding... and those words... I feel like they fit you very well.”

HP blinks quickly and the things she wants to say clash in her mind with the words she can say. She opens and closes her mouth a couple of times and she has to focus on the sky, instead of Undine’s earnest expression, to form a consistent sentence correctly.

             “I... had never thought about that...” she eventually replies in a soft voice.

             “Really?” Undine seems relieved and glad, and it’s so sincere, HP doesn’t know what to do.

             “Yeah, I don’t think much about things I cannot punch,” she argues. But it’s just something she says as a way to deflect the genuine smile that Undine sends in her direction.

 

She really likes the way Undine says her name.

Now she knows why it finally feels like it fits.

**Author's Note:**

> Words are hard indeed (do the japanese langauge exists in the SD universe?). Sorry if there’s anything too convoluted in here, I tried to be compliant with the canon but just couldn’t find a specific timespan to develop the whole story so it might be a bit stretched all over the place.  
> I dunno if my interpretation of Punchy’s thoughts is accurate at all, I can only hope I managed to write her in character, also, I know I tagged this as romance, but since it’s more focused on Punchy and her thoughts you can probs read Punchy & Undies relationship as them just being good friends (I'm just a fan hoping this nice friendship can be the start of something more :P)  
> If you have anything to share about the story or the topic be sure to leave a message (if there's any spelling mistake or typo I missed please let me know too)  
> See ya!


End file.
